PBR Ontario's Top Stories For 2014: Fieldhouse Pirates Lead Way With Early Commits

December 26, 2014

By Chris Kemlo and Dylan Hefflinger
PBR Ontario Director of Scouting and Ontario Editor in Chief

Top 12 Stories for The Year 2014

Although PBR Ontario started up just three months ago Chris Kemlo, PBR Ontario Director of Scouting, looks back at the year in review and put together a list of the top stories for 2014.

To start off the list, Chris chose a long running piece that has provided players and parents with valuable knowledge when it comes to recruiting.

To follow that up we looked at "The Recruiting Trail" which updates where all the prospects across the province have been visiting, who they are getting attention from, and who they have committed to.

Next up Chris chose to look two outstanding prospects who lead the 2017 class as the two top prospects in Canada. When watching them on the field, they could be called the "Hall and Davis Show"

After that we looked at how talented the 2016 catching class is as well as the Toronto Mets 17U winning the NABF World Series

Now up is a piece on the Fieldhouse Pirates.

Each day we will reveal the next story on the list. A hint for the next story is the word "2016".

A rundown of the stories: Note: We will be conducting a Twitter contest to vote on the top 12 stories for 2014 once the 12 stories have been posted.

Fieldhouse Pirates Lead Way with Early Commits

The fall season is a busy time for teams in Ontario as organizations travel across the U.S. on weekend tournaments for three week trips to play other travel teams and colleges of all levels to showcase their talents to recruiters and coaches.

Matt Baird took his 18u team the Fieldhouse Pirates on a 10 day trip to states such as Indiana, Iowa, Oklahoma, and Texas to play the likes of schools of Grayson CC, Southeastern CC, and Murray State out of Oklahoma to name a few.

Led by top prospects catcher Drew Reilly and lefty pitcher Dallas Taylor, the Pirates began their trip at Huntington University in Indiana with workouts for all players. The next day was another combine at Southeastern CC with Reilly showing off his arm behind the plate with a 1.90 pop time. Top times from the 60 were outfielders Jesse Lee at 6.70 and Chandler Robertson posting a respectable 6.90.

After the first two workouts, games officially began with big 6-foot-5 right handed pitcher Jose Vasquez took to the mound. Vasquez, with his easy arm action and polished mechanics worked two clean innings with his fastball topping out at 83 mph. Robertson had a day to remember at Murray State going 4-4 and being a triple away from the cycle. Both Vasquez and Robertson would go on to sign NLI.

Players started to fly off the board with Nick Ott signing with Huntington University who plays in the NAIA. He was followed by Reilly who signed with powerhouse from Texas, Grayson CC.

Middle infielder Travis Ruf played well for Baird throughout the whole trip, showcasing his strong glove and ability to get on base, Jesse Lee continued to impress, and while at Vernon College threw a bullpen that caught the eye of the coaches. He committed that day.

In total, Fieldhouse had seven commitments by the time the 10-day trip was all said and done. Ruf committed to coach Baird’s alma-mater North Central Texas College, while Robertson and infielder Liam Whalen would go on to sign at Murray State.

Not often have we seen teams in Ontario with this amount of early commitments. Fieldhouse kick started the frenzy for the early signing period, and was the leadoff hitter when it comes to teams announcing where their players will be headed in the fall of 2015.